Our Little Valentine!

Sometimes it gets to be to far between visits with Eli!

He's changing so fast....his facial expressions, how he moves, how he figures out how to do things, his vocabulary....we actually have conversations with him now.

Just watching him play is such a joy! He is happy to play by himself unless he needs a horsey-back ride or wants to play hockey.

He talks out loud as he plays....Eli has such a great imagination.


We had such a gorgeous morning today
to go to the Highland Grill for breakfast
and for a drive thru St. Paul!
We pretty much have a tradition of going out for
Sunday brunch.....there are so many wonderful
local restaurants and cafes to chose from.
Love the Highland Grill's Salmon Omelet! Yummmm!!!

(We have a hard time getting Eli to pose for pictures!)
Nick and Eli were cleaning up some snow and
ice on the driveway and sidewalk when we got back
and some how they came up with the idea to dig
Eli's first snow tunnel....
(One time through and then off for a nap!)
Looking forward to our next 'visit'!!

Boy on the Go!!!

He rarely sits still....just to eat and sleep!!

We had so much fun having Eli and his mommy and daddy stay with us this past weekend!


Eli had so much fun that he didn't want to go home!!

(You can see the reflection of his parents car in the door! They were waving good by thinking he would run to them.....no! He just waved and said 'bye'!!! So glad he likes being at Nana and Papa's!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELI!!

And happy it was!

From the minute he got up Sunday morning Eli was in 'party' mode!

He enjoyed his cake....

...just dug right in....


...his first real taste of sugar!!



It was a 'barnyard bash' with his friends and family!
After food, cake and a tractor pinata Eli opened a mega pile of gifts!



Just hangin' out in the barn!
What a great first birthday!
Nana and Papa.....
the joy of being grandparents!!

Randi's old toys, The Nook, and Aamodt's Apple Farm!

We had a great weekend with

this cute little guy(and his parents)!

Our Minnesota weather has

been more than fabulous this fall!

I have been purging at home and

brought Randi her childhood toys.

Eli really enjoyed playing with them!

Saturday we headed to The Nook

in St. Paul for lunch!

Eli and I had never been there

before and I had been asking to go!

The Nook has been featured on

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

on the food channel!

The Nook is so small that you

get your name on a waiting

list....the wait wasn't bad!

When we were done eating

Eli started flirting with this

cutie who was waiting for a table!

Already picking up chicks in a bar!

Sunday we headed to

Aamodt's Apple Farm

near Stillwater, MN.

They also had St. Croix wine and

these grapes were very tasty!

Eli also had a chance to see

and pet farm animals....

Took a chance for a few pics

in the orchard!

We thought Eli was giving

his mommy some love here!

Right after this picture he

decided to bite! HA

Teething babes!

I hope all of you had a beautiful

autumn weekend too!

Now....back to work!

Have a great week!

Labor Day Weekend!!

Dear, dear daughter's!!

Sign says: 'Swimsuits optional beyond this point'!!

Nicest dock on Norway Lake!

Autumn beauty in Minnesota!

(Sunset cruise on the pontoon!)

Beach Baby!!

Birthday Bras! (9.1.09)

Happy Birthday Dear Sister!
(The bras showed up again for Labor Day weekend!)

Grandma's joy!

Boy at play!

'Gpa, I don't like my hood up!'

'GPA.......

.......get me outta' here!'

Four Generations!

Labor Day weekend we spent the days out at my sister Julie's cabin on Norway Lake!(Only 15 minutes from our house!) Randi and Eli came home (Nick had a softball tournament in Rochester) for a couple of days!

What fun, family time we had!

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo...how about you, you, you....you can come too, too, too....we're going to the zoo!

Do any of you know that song? It always sticks in my head when we talk about going to Como!!

And what a beautiful day we had....

yesterday we walked to Como Z00 from Randi and Nick's home!

The weather was perfect....warm with a breeze!

Como Park Z00 was started in the late 1800's and the first animals were 3 deer placed there in 1897! I've only been there a few times(my senior class went there for part of our senior class trip!) and we took the girls there a couple of times! Como is really a great family day trip! (They only ask for a free-will donation of $1-$2!) We plan to make many more trips to the park, we didn't even see half yesterday!

And Eli was such a trooper....he got to see 'Sparky' the seal preform!

He also saw the ape's (lower left in picture),

...the lions..
...the giraffe's.....
...and many other animals!


...and then after taking a nap on our walk back from Como he had a little lounging time in the back yard! What a great day!

On our way in and out of the park we checked out Como Town!!

Eli will be ready for a few rides next year.....good old fashioned fun!!!

Well, off to work......hope all of you have a great week!

It's June 9th??

And there has been so much going on!

Our sweet nephew Brett, graduated from HS!

We helped celebrate last weekend!

Our dd Megan and her cousin(my god-daughter) Kim!

(um...Dr. Kim, very proud of her!)
Oh! Looks like Kim's db Ryan decided to join us in this picture!! Ha!


And Eli is 6 months old.....we'll see him on Father's Day, in the mean time we have been web camming with them....it's so fun to see him smile at the monitor when he sees us!

Also a little home improvements going on.. painting, new fixtures! Window treatments! The kitchen had been the same since 1992....17 years! Was time for a change!

There is so much keeping dh and I busy right now that I haven't found time to do anything creative.....I think I'll be moving 'create' to the top of my 'to do' list!! (cheaper than therapy!)